Open Letter: We Demand That Julian Assange’s Rights Be Restored

With deep pride in the rights we hold so dear, we are calling on those who share our love of liberty to respectfully ask the Ecuadorian government to give Julian Assange back his voice. We are also asking that the United States end the Grand Jury investigation into WikiLeaks and drop any charges against the publisher and all other staff members

On March 25, Ecuador caved to pressure from the United States and Spanish governments to isolate Assange by revoking his right to have visitors, make phone calls or use the internet.

In targeting WikiLeaks, the corporate media and unelected powers that are challenged by their truthful publications are actively attempting to destroy the great vision of our Founding Fathers.

The First Continental Congress wrote that the freedom of press was important not only for the advancement of truth, but so that those who seek to abuse power “are shamed or intimidated into more honourable and just modes of conducting affairs.” They asserted that without this right, “a people cannot be free and happy.”

With media giants actively working with many politicians, WikiLeaks publications have become absolutely vital in provoking meaningful debate and creating informed voters in our nation.

In a recent court filing, Trump’s campaign lawyer passionately argued that there can be “no serious doubt” that the disclosures from WikiLeaks are “newsworthy” and of “public concern” and must be considered protected under our First Amendment. We agree with him fully, yet the administration has not only continued the Obama-era war against the publisher, but ramped it up significantly.

In an op-ed for the Washington Post last year, Assange eloquently explained that “WikiLeaks’ sole interest is expressing constitutionally protected truths, which I remain convinced is the cornerstone of the United States’ remarkable liberty, success and greatness.”

If President Trump actually wants to drain the swamp and fulfill the promises that he ran on, then he should actively support the publisher who has shed the most light on it… including during his own presidential bid.

The First Amendment is a beautiful ideal that means so much more than just words on paper.

Image via Somerset Bean, The Gateway Pundit

The concept of biased and fake news did not begin during the 2016 election. It was something that the Founding Fathers struggled against themselves. During his presidency, Thomas Jefferson was the frequent target of misleading gossip and smears.

“The most effectual engines for [pacifying a nation] are the public papers… [A despotic] government always [keeps] a kind of standing army of newswriters who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, [invent] and put into the papers whatever might serve the ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true paragraphs of a newspaper,” Jefferson once said.

The Founding Fathers would have protected WikiLeaks at all costs and it is time that we inherit their spirit.